Nike+ FuelBand wants to motivate you to an active lifestyle

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Nike announced a new lifestyle accessory on Thursday called the Nike+ FuelBand. The Nike+ FuelBand aims to constantly measure your movement, to motivate you to be more active in daily life.

The new wristband uses a three-axis accelerometer to gauge activity through movements of the wrist and displays activity via the LED display. The FuelBand features 20 LED lights that will change from red to green as you approach your goal.

Sitting on the sofa all day? Standing in the lift when you could be bounding up the stairs? It's red all the way for you. Walking to work? Carrying the shopping home rather than driving? You're in for life in the green zone. Nike have even made a great video to summarise...

The new Nike+ FuelBand was presented by Nike president and CEO, Mark Parker, at the event in New York, who said: "Nike has always been about inspiring athletes, and the Nike+ FuelBand will help motivate them in a simple, fun and intuitive way."

Four basic metrics are available: time, calories, steps and NikeFuel. The first three are rather conventional measurements, but NikeFuel has been designed as unilateral way of rewarding activity - regardless of gender or weight. A central display made up of 100 LEDs will show you more conventional stats, like the time or your calories burnt.

Also in attendance at the launch was Lance Armstrong, seven-times Tour de France winner, and huge fan of wristbands. "What's great about the idea of NikeFuel and the FuelBand is the way it provides real information and numbers to show how much people are doing all day, every day. That's what will get people challenging themselves to do more and better their own scores. It's a tool to get people more active", said Armstong.

The new Nike+ FuelBand taps in on the active lifestyle market where we've seen increasing activity recently. The Jawbone Up offers a similar proposition, as does the Fitbit Ultra - aimed not at those heading out running, but those who need motivation to adopt a more active lifestyle.

The band weighs approx 30g and there are three sizes available. It features a USB which will connect to your PC and an internal battery which should be good for around 4 days.

The Nike+ FuelBand will sync with the Nike+ website via a PC and there will also be an iPhone app. You can connect the Nike+ FuelBand with your iPhone via Bluetooth. The Nike+ FuelBand will be available to preorder from 19 January for $149. No word on UK pricing or availability yet, but we'll update you when we have the details.